


never fallen from quite this high

by stormss



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Established Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Tenderness, cooking breakfast at night for your boyfriend after a long shift as a love language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormss/pseuds/stormss
Summary: Three hours of overtime later, Carlos strolls out to his car, attempting and failing to reach the knots of tension forming in his shoulders. It's impossible not to feel some of that stress fade, though, when he answers his phone and hears TK's voice on the other end. He's not expecting the question, though, when TK forgoes anyheysorwhat's upsto instead ask: "What do you want for breakfast?"*Tarlos Valentine 2021, Day Two:"What do you want for breakfast?" - "It's 10pm" - "Oh." + Late Night Hangouts.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 22
Kudos: 254
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star ▶ Carlos Reyes / Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand, Tarlos Valentine 2021





	never fallen from quite this high

**Author's Note:**

> this is.....very fluffy but hey, that's what happens when i sit down to write with no plan and come up with something in an hour askdfajskd 
> 
> the title comes from _ocean eyes_ by billie eilish! set sometime vaguely pre-season 2! 
> 
> come say hi on [tumblr!](https://reyesstrand.tumblr.com/)

Carlos stifles a yawn behind his fist as he strolls into the communal kitchen at the station, trying to keep himself from looking at the clock as he puts another pot of coffee on. 

He's tired, though. And human. And so he lets his gaze drift to the spot above the bulletin board, feeling even more weighed down than before when he realizes it's barely seven. He's already been asked to stay and cover for a sick-call until a proper replacement could come in, and after working for nearly twelve hours already, he's about ready to drop. 

He pushes that down, because he knows after years on the job that thinking about getting home only makes the shifts feel longer. So Carlos meticulously prepares his coffee how he likes and when he returns to his desk, informs his partner that there's a fresh pot that she might want to get to before it sits too long. She offers him a thankful look, pushing away from the several open files on her desk, and Carlos lets out a long sigh as he returns to his own paperwork. 

It doesn't mean that he doesn't get wistful every half hour or so, thinking about how he should be home with TK for the first date night they thought they'd be able to squeeze into their equally busy schedules in a couple of weeks. His boyfriend had no hard feelings when he'd texted him earlier, informing him about his overtime, but Carlos misses him. Their time together feels so fleeting of late, and all he wants is to be home, preferably in bed, listening to TK's retelling of whatever crazy scenario they experienced today while on a call. 

He sighs, and stares at the bottom corner of his computer screen, the tiny _8:14pm_ feeling like some sort of torture. Shaking his head at himself, Carlos bows his head and focuses on the words on the page, doing everything in his power to get through this shift so he can get home and sleep it all off. 

What ends up being three hours of overtime later, Carlos strolls out to his car, attempting and failing to reach the knots of tension forming in his shoulders. It's impossible not to feel some of that stress fade, though, when he answers his phone and hears TK's voice on the other end. 

He's not expecting the question, though, when TK forgoes any _heys_ or _what's ups_ to instead ask: "What do you want for breakfast?" 

"Sorry, what?" Carlos shifts his phone to his other hand, digging his keys out of his pocket and unlocking the Camaro. He settles behind the wheel, dumping his bag on the passenger seat. "Wait, are you at my place?" 

"Yeah, I used my key," TK says, and Carlos bites back a smile as he imagines the look on his boyfriend's face. "And I asked what you want for breakfast, duh. I'm pretty limited in my cooking abilities, I know, but I can make some pretty mean chocolate chip pancakes. Or I _could_ go the waffle route, if that's what you want."

"But, Ty? It's ten pm," Carlos points out, though he's sure anyone could hear the fondness in his own voice. 

"Oh," TK replies, after a brief pause. Carlos opens his mouth, but is cut off by TK, who says, "I don't care if you don't. I know you had a long day, and I just—I wanted to cheer you up." 

His voice has gone a little quieter, and Carlos feels his heart clench in his chest. He drums his thumb against the steering wheel, and he can so clearly imagine TK pacing around his kitchen, eyebrows pinched together, probably stressed about overstepping. So he quickly says, "Hey, it's cool with me," before adding: "Pancakes. Definitely pancakes." 

"Perfect," TK says, and Carlos can hear the smile in his voice. "I'll see you soon, babe." 

"See you soon," Carlos agrees with a smile of his own, before hanging up and placing his phone in the cupholder. 

He gets home ten minutes later, finding that an indescribable warmth has spread in his chest when he parks in his driveway and notices the lights already on, emitting a soft, yellow glow through the windows. The tiredness from before has started to fade as he makes his way inside, dropping his bag near the door to deal with later, following the mouthwatering smell that has his stomach grumbling. 

TK smiles at him when he comes closer, before he returns his attention to the pan in front of him. He has the spatula poised and ready for action at a moment's notice, and Carlos just thinks _cute_ when he notices his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. So, he hugs his boyfriend from behind, pressing a kiss to his throat, voicing his opinions as he says, "you're cute when you're cooking, you know." 

"Pancakes are serious business, Reyes," TK quips back at him, reaching up with his free hand to squeeze the forearm Carlos has wrapped around TK's chest. "How was your day?" 

"Ugh," is Carlos' only reply, spoken mostly into TK's neck. His boyfriend huffs a laugh at him, gently moving out of his grasp to grab a plate to put the finished pancakes on. 

"That bad, huh?" TK asks, finally turning to face him after ladling more batter into the pan. Carlos shrugs, and presses a kiss to TK's mouth. 

"Just long," Carlos says, pulling back from the kiss to gently drag his thumb along TK's cheekbone. "I'm happy to be home." 

TK kisses his knuckles, before turning back to pay attention to the sizzling pan. "Me too." 

Carlos hides his smile in TK's hair, this time, before he pulls back to gather things from the fridge: syrup, some orange juice, some fruit, because they may as well go all out, here. He's setting out plates and cutlery on the kitchen island when TK announces they're done, popping a few spare chocolate chips in his mouth as he turns to set the platter of pancakes next to the plates. 

These nighttime dates have become a bit of a regular occurrence for them, now that TK's back to work full-time. He often needs some sort of respite from his parents going at each other—in more ways than one, he's come to learn—and Carlos loves having his home open to his boyfriend. It only makes them grow closer, these nights together, and he cherishes them dearly. 

They end up just eating at the kitchen island, Carlos not realizing how hungry he was until the buttery sweetness explodes across his tongue. He devours the first couple of pancakes on his plate in minutes, TK smiling softly at him as he goes. 

"So, pancakes?" Carlos asks, swirling some orange juice around in his champagne flute, because TK had insisted on them making at least one aspect of this meal somewhat reminiscent of a proper date.

"It used to be a bit of a...thing, when I was a kid," TK explains, poking at his food with his fork. "If I came home and I was upset, or even just under the weather, my mom and dad would turn dinner into an all-out breakfast feast." 

Carlos smiles a little at the thought, thinking of his own parents' techniques at cheering him up when he was younger. He notices the sad smile on TK's face, though, and Carlos bites at the inside of his cheek before asking: "Did they have another fight?" 

The sigh he gets is all he really needs as a response. 

"You know, I think it's the same fight they started three days ago," TK says, meeting his eyes. "They just keep taking breaks to mess around and get it out of their systems before getting into it again." 

He watches TK's face journey; he watches as TK drops his fork to drag a hand through his hair. 

"Baby," Carlos starts, ready to go into his usual spiel about talking to his parents and telling them about what their interactions do to him, but TK just shakes his head and reaches across the island to take Carlos' hand. 

"No, this is going to turn into a parents-free zone," TK says, and when Carlos gives him a look about bottling up feelings, his boyfriend just squeezes his fingers. "Seriously, I'm okay. I want this to be for you. For us." 

"It means a lot to me, Ty," Carlos admits, staring down at the half-eaten stack on his plate, slowly meeting TK's eyes once more. "It means a lot that you went out of your way to do something like this." 

"You'd do it for me," TK says, and Carlos' stomach pleasantly flips. He presses a kiss to TK's knuckles, then, just to show him in the tiniest ways how much it means to him. 

"Well, I think we'll have to make this _our_ new tradition, then," Carlos suggests, and TK grins at him.

"Deal," TK says, already moving around the island to wrap his arms around him, leaning up for a kiss. Carlos kisses him back without hesitation, both of them tasting sweet, though Carlos knows that's usually the case for his boyfriend. 

And, well, if the late-night breakfast ends up getting forgotten about in favour of their other favourite traditions, that's nobody's business but theirs. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments/kudos always make my day <3


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